Onoda Sakamichi
Onoda Sakamichi is the main protagonist of the Yowamushi Pedal series who starts off as a new first-year student at Sohoku High School who unexpectedly becomes a member of the Sohoku High Bicycle Club and specializes in climbing. Onoda is also an anime otaku, his favorite anime being Love Hime. He is known to sing the ''Love Hime'' Theme Song while climbing. It is Onoda's eagerness to obtain anime goods from Akihabara that caused him to develop the strength needed to become a competitive cyclist. Appearance Onoda has straight, somewhat spiky black hair and round blue eyes in the anime, though he has been portrayed with brown eyes in the manga. He is of average height and has a relatively frail build. Toudou Jinpachi stated during their brief meeting at the Inter High that Onoda was "less than a three" in looks. However, he later tells Onoda that he has "nice eyes." During Onoda's second year, a few girls call him "cute," surprising Imaizumi, Teshima, and Onoda himself. In the first few episodes of the anime, Onoda is shown riding with a track jacket, then a dedicated cycling jersey, both which feature the colors yellow, white and red in varying amounts; these colors also happen to be the ones used for the Sohoku Inter High team jerseys. Personality Onoda is quite shy and has a hard time speaking up for himself; he's easily embarrassed and flustered if complimented or seen enjoying his anime interests too much. He is initially very distrustful and avoidant of "sports type" people, although greatly lonely as he never had many friends he could truly share his interests with. Onoda doesn't have much confidence nor understanding of his own skills. But ever since meeting Miki, Imaizumi, Naruko, and the rest of the Sohoku cyclists, his courage and abilities have been growing and he has jumped full force into the world of bicycles. He is still easily flustered, but he has developed a fierce determination that helps him do what others think is impossible. Onoda throws caution to the wind and instantly bombards people with friendliness and questions when he learns they know even a hint about anime, no matter how unfriendly the person seems. Although sometimes lost in his own anime world, he has a sense of what's morally right and can't stand when people look down on others or destroy the enjoyable atmosphere of cycling. He takes orders from his team very seriously and literally, completing them by all means necessary, and is always looking for something he can do for his teammates. Skills and Techniques Onoda is capable of riding with extremely high cadences (going way beyond the normal pace of 70 rpm; he can sustain a 90 rpm pace uphill, and though difficult, at least as high as 150 rpm for a few hundred meters) even when climbing uphill, and at least close to 210 rpm on flat road. His main skill set seems to manifest when given an order, which he will try to achieve without fail, and when he sees a friend or rival in front of him, Onoda tends to smile at the sight and desire to reach them. This simple thing motivates him to pedal and climb rapidly. As Imaizumi Shunsuke puts it, once Onoda successfully "catches you, he never lets go," and it's practically impossible to shake him. Onoda also sings the ''Love Hime'' theme to keep his rhythm and motivate himself. Onoda's mother put a smaller gear on his bike, an average child's model for pedestrian city riding, when he was a child, which meant that he had to pedal with greater intensity than normally required since middle school. As he got older, he also remained ignorant that his seat height was getting lower and lower in relation to his growing height, resulting in his legs not being able to pedal at full efficiency, with his feet much closer to his body. His legs and body being forced to ride this way since fourth grade, and being motivated to travel 90km roundtrip to get to Akihabara once a week, resulted in him becoming a natural climber. When Imaizumi began to realize Onoda's potential, he challenged him in an uphill race (with a head start) and Onoda, using his bike after Kanzaki Miki raised the seat to the proper height, and no advantages for road racing, nearly beat the experienced Imaizumi on his road racer. Onoda is also a fast learner even when taught techniques on the fly while riding, and can quickly apply them successfully, if not with the same finesse as a veteran rider. Having watched his riding in situ, other club members came to realize that when Onoda's skills put him up against the wall, he evolves them in order to overcome that wall. Imaizumi noted that Onoda is a rider that makes leaps and bounds when he rides, much like when a little-known competitor makes incredible progress all throughout a race like the Tour de France. He was able to adjust to riding with the appropriate higher saddle height, ride in the street among traffic while learning to use his new front deraileurs, and use the 'pendulum sway' dancing technique in a very short period of time. He also has good balance on bikes when needed, quickly recovering when Imaizumi smashed shoulders with him in the First-Year Welcome Race, successfully riding on rollers (which requires more balance and attention than other training methods) on his first try, and if push comes to shove, ride on a nearly wheel-thick edge of the road gutter to pass other cyclists. In comparison, fellow newbies Kawada Takuya and Sakurai Tsuyoshi joined the club and were training three weeks earlier then Onoda and still could not handle rollers, which Miki states is like riding on ice. Despite the fact that he also seems very clumsy and falls off his bike when nervous, Onoda has fallen so often that he shrugs off tough tumbles, and falling usually calms him down afterward. In fact, being used to falling is the reason he states that he would try riding rollers anyway. Kinjou Shingo asked the Kanzaki family's shop to supply Onoda with a road racer for club activities, which is an older Kuromori frame suited for beginners, equipped with spare parts and plastic pedals (as Onoda didn't own cleats) and considered a permanent loaner. After the Inter High, Onoda is given a yellow BMC road bike with a complete carbon-fiber frame. This bike is half the weight of the Kuromori, allowing him to pedal at greater speeds and travel greater distances with ease. Trivia ;Likes : Udon noodles with seaweed and meat (made by his mother) and watching anime. : Love Hime CD : Black Manyu figurine ;Dislikes : Big, barking dogs ;Collects : Anime figures, especially Black Manyu : DVDs : Royal Force anime stickers : ;Best subject : None, but according to Ride 19, he does enjoy Japanese History. ;Misc * He lives on top of a very steep hill and nobody wanted to go to his house because it would take ages to climb. * His given name of Sakamichi can be translated to "hill road." ja:小野田 坂道 Category:Male Characters Category:Cyclists Category:Students Category:Sohoku High Bicycle Club Category:Characters Category:Climber